San Rafael temple creates community a loaf of bread at a time

AS A CHEF AND former restaurateur, Jeff Kirshbaum knows his way around a kitchen.

But when he's behind the stove at Congregation Rodef Sholom, Kirshbaum would be the first to say what he's doing isn't really isn't about the food; it's about creating community.

"It's amazing for us to see the effect a loaf of bread has on somebody," says Kirshbaum, who runs Mitzvah Kitchen, which provides free meals and freshly baked bread for the San Rafael temple's congregants delivered to their door. "We like to say we're building community one loaf of challah at a time."

The program didn't exactly start because Kirshbaum's wife, Judi, was eager to get him out of their Larkspur home once he retired. But when the couple joined the temple in 2004, she was quick to let rabbi Michael Lezak know that Kirshbaum was skilled and available, and Lezak was just as quick to put him to work.

"We're always looking for novel ways to connect people," Lezak says. "The whole idea for me is, the challah is a vehicle for connection. They're delivered to new moms, new mourners, new members, people who are potentially feeling isolated."

Every Tuesday, Kirshbaum drops about $300 of his own money on groceries for meals that go to a changing roster of people, most often the elderly and disabled who are unable to shop or cook for themselves. On Wednesdays, he pops into the kitchen to make the dough for the 100 or so loaves of challah and artisanal bread he bakes each week, a small portion of which are available for purchase by congregants. And on Thursdays, Kirshbaum's in the kitchen with about four volunteers from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. cooking and baking. Additional volunteers arrive shortly after to pick up and deliver the bread, still warm from the ovens the Kirshbaums donated to the temple, as well as the meals.

While a close camaraderie has grown in the kitchen under the leadership of Kirshbaum, affectionately referred to as Chef Jeff, the real magic happens when the doorbell rings at a congregant's house. Volunteers get invited in. Conversations start. Stories are shared. Friendships develop.

"I delivered a challah to a congregant, and she cried. She literally cried," says Ken King of Santa Venetia, a longshoreman who works nights at the Port of Oakland but who shows up at the kitchen every Thursday to chop and dice. "She was so emotionally touched because we cared. That's worth everything."

The all-volunteer program began in 2004 as a challah bakery and delivery service. It quickly became so popular that Kirshbaum decided he'd bake extra challah that could be ordered by congregants as well as offer meals around the Jewish holidays. In 2010, Kirshbaum started baking and selling artisanal bread. He also expanded the holiday menus, using his mother's recipes for brisket and matzah ball soup.

Whatever money is made from selling breads and meals goes to support the temple's youth programs. It brings in a few thousand dollars a year.

Kirshbaum shrugs off the amount of time and effort it takes.

"I'm a chef. I love to cook, so that's fun," says Kirshbaum, 65, who owned delicatessens in San Francisco after graduating from culinary school in 1994. "It's giving back. I'm in a position to do this."

As far as Lezak knows, Congregation Rodef Sholom is the only temple around here — maybe even the country — that has such a program. He says a number of temples from around the Bay Area have called him to inquire about it.

"What's most amazing and inspiring for me about this program is that it lifts congregants into the role of caretaker, automatically and reliably week by week," Lezak says.

It's a role they embrace.

"There's a need," King says of his dedication to the program. "It's easy, it's fun and the tactile part is really nice. It's much more fun than if you wrote a check. Feeding someone is so basic."